“The two ways—one of life and one of death, and a vast chasm exists between the two” (Didache 1:1). So begins a 1st-century document, meant for Gentile converts entering a Church filled with Jewish Christians. Such are the subjects Dean delighted in learning during my time as his pastor. Today, you will not find yourself […]
Psalm 68:6, Dean Webb’s Funeral Sermon: God Brings Those in the Prison House to Where?
August 16, 2018 by
Lord of the Sabbath: Mark 2:23-28
July 11, 2018 by
The disciples and Jesus are walking through a barley or wheat field. Some Pharisees, a group of legalistic Jews, are standing by, ready to ambush them. For Jesus chafed them the wrong way, going against their grain. In the other Gospel accounts, we learn they are hungry. So what are they to do? Tired and […]
Holy Trinity: John 3:1-17
July 11, 2018 by
So naive is Nicodemus. In the concealed obscurity of night, he visits Jesus. Though seeking to remain undetected, he offers Him the highest praise, “Rabbi, you must be a teacher come from God. For no one can perform the signs you do unless God is with him” (John 3:2). Swept away by His miracles, such […]
Acts 2:1-21: The Real Power of Pentecost
May 24, 2018 by
At last, power! A fitting display of vigor and vitality for the saving Word to sally forth into the world! No more modesty of the Christ-child sleeping among the animals in a manure-filled stable. Absent is the shame and humiliation of Christ’s execution by Roman overlords. The hidden splendor of Easter Sunday morning when God […]
Acts 1:12-26: The Office is Greater than the Man
May 14, 2018 by
Most of us don’t realize how much North Africans influenced our Christian thinking. For instance, they became the first to worship in Latin. So, much of western Christian thought came from them, as we in the West later adopted the Latin language. In the first three centuries, a higher percentage of Christians lived in the […]
Acts 1:6-11: Christ’s Ascension Doesn’t Mean He’s Now Trapped in Heaven
May 10, 2018 by
This was our pastor’s sermon for the pastoral circuit meeting (winkel) on Tuesday, May 9, 2018. The book of Acts tells us of the first Christians as they brought Jesus to others in their words and deeds. The Scripture pictures for us the earliest Church, unfolding who the Church is and what she does, […]
John 15:5-9: Fed From the True Vine
April 29, 2018 by
The Old Testament often describes God as a gardener or vinedresser, who tends to His vineyards. The vines He cares for, which He planted and tended with loving care, are His people, Israel. The Psalms tell us, “[God] brought a vine out of Egypt, expelled the nations, and planted us into his land” (Psalm 80:8). […]
Psalm 23:1: The Lord is My Shepherd
April 29, 2018 by
Most of us understand little about the ways of shepherding and sheep. The few places where sheep wander in the fields are like an alien world to the rest of us. Included in this life are rugged men, who provide for flocks atop the hills and mountains of the American West, hailing from shepherds in […]
Luke 24:36-49: Clarity in Christ, not Confusion
April 29, 2018 by
The risen Jesus appears again, breaking into His disciples’ lives, this time as they mull over recent events. An astounded Peter witnessed an alive Jesus, no longer held by death. Later, two disciples walking to Emmaus encounter Jesus, and they marvel. Now, shocked and surprised, in an instant, He stands before His disciples, as out […]
John 20:19-31: Forgiving and Retaining
April 14, 2018 by
What is the Word of God? Like the Trinity, consisting of Father, Son, and Spirit, the Word is three, yet also one. Though not an exact comparison, the Word first stems from the One, who became flesh and tabernacled among us (John 1:14). So, this Word is first the incarnate Jesus. From Christ, the written […]
